Bulgaria: The Term "Intimate Relationship" enters Legislation - Changes to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence

With 144 votes "in favor", the Bulgarian parliament adopted the amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in the first reading. With them, "intimate relationship" is equated to marital partnership and cohabitation without marriage, and victims receive the same opportunities for protection.

The bill was supported by three parliamentary groups - GERB-SDS, WCC-DB and DPS. 58 deputies from BSP, "Vazrazhdane" and the independent Radostin Vassilev voted "against", and 8 from "There Is Such a People" abstained.

The proposal of the former Minister of Justice and current deputy from WCC-DB Nadezhda Yordanova that the changes be voted on today in the second reading, led to a new wave of accusations from the opposition.

What does the term mean?

After the case of 18-year-old Debora from Stara Zagora, the deputies gathered in an extraordinary session to vote on changes to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence and the Criminal Code. The proposal of GERB-SDS, PP-DB and DPS to include people who are in an intimate relationship within the scope of the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence caused wide debates, both during the meeting of the legal commission and during today's plenary session.

Both de facto cohabitation and intimate relationship are expected to be preserved in the second reading of the law on domestic violence. It will be added to the definition of an intimate relationship that it is a relationship lasting at least 60 days.

At first reading, the definition of an intimate relationship reads: "a voluntary relatively permanent union between two persons, which arises and exists as a de facto state, without the need for compliance with a legally regulated procedure and...